Archive

Archive for the ‘Zombie Reads’ Category

Book Review: The Walking Dead: Rise of the Governor by Robert Kirkman and Jay Bonansinga (Series, #1)

March 13, 2012 2 comments

Silhouettes of two men and a girl standing against the Atlanta city skyine.Summary:
The first in a prequel trilogy that relates how the baddest villain of The Walking Dead’s zombie apocalypse came to be–not just how he came to rule Woodbury, but how he became an evil sociopath.

Review:
Wow. Just wow.  If I could be a good book blogger and just say that I would, but I can’t so I suppose I must attempt to put my love for this book into words.

First of all, it’s important to know that this is sort of a prequel to The Walking Dead graphic novels.  It’s the origin story of The Governor (aka one of the most evil comic book villains ever).  Only instead of sticking to his graphic novel format, Kirkman, with the assistance of Bonansinga, went with the written word.  Now, I was offered this book as an audiobook, and I have to say this really affected my reading of it.  The reader, Fred Berman, does an absolutely amazing job.  He has a natural standard American accent, but seamlessly slips into a Southern drawl when the characters speak.  Beyond this though he is able to bring the anguish and tensity to the survival scenes that is necessary without seeming melodramatic.  It reminded me of being read to by my own father when I was a little girl.  I found myself choosing to curl up with the audiobook over many other activities.  So.  I’m not sure if the experience is the same reading it yourself.  I do know that listening to the audiobook is a remarkable experience.

Now, this is a zombie apocalypse horror novel about an evil man.  It gets uncomfortable.  Kirkman and Bonansinga bring us inside the minds of men warped by situations and psychiatric problems alike.  It’s not pretty.  It makes you squirm.  But it’s supposed to.  Some reviewers have accused this book of being misogynistic because bad things seem to happen an awful lot to the female characters.  I have a couple of things to say about that.  First of all, hello, do you live in this world?  Because women have to survive a lot of bad shit.  Second, this is an apocalypse.  Think of it as a war zone.  Do women get molested, raped, murdered, treated as less strong and unequal?  Absolutely.  The book isn’t misogynistic.  It’s realistic about how a south torn apart by zombies would treat women.  The way to determine if a book in this sort of situation is misogynistic is to look at how the author treats the women.  Does he present them as hysterical, over-reacting?  Do they refuse to stand up for themselves?  I can unequivocally say that although horrible things happen to the women in this book, they fight for themselves.  It is therefore not misogynistic, but realistic.

Now one thing that probably a lot of people wonder is is the story predictable?  We already know who The Governor is and that he keeps his zombie daughter as a pet.  That would seem to remove the ability for the authors to surprise us at all.  I am happy to say that in spite of knowing the end result, this story kept me on the edge of my seat.  Some readers didn’t like all of the surprises and twists.  Personally, I feel that they brought the novel up a notch in both talent and enjoyability.

Overall, this is a wonderful addition to The Walking Dead canon.  Fans of the graphic novel series will not be disappointed, although fans of the tv show seem to be taken aback by it.  All I can say is that the books don’t pull any punches and are not for the squeamish.  If you don’t want to be challenged, stick to tv.  Everyone else should scoop this up as soon as possible.

5 out of 5 stars

Source: Copy from the publisher in exchange for my honest review and a giveaway

Buy It

Book Review: The Walking Dead, Book Seven by Robert Kirkman (Series, #7) (Graphic Novel)

March 7, 2012 1 comment

Man in yellow surrounded by zombies.Summary:
The people at the settlement quickly discover that the new group headed by Rick has a lot more knowledge, experience, and ability with the zombies than they themselves do.  But they also snap easily.  Is their twitchiness warranted or not?

Review:
I was pleasantly surprised by the direction this entry in the series went.  I was fully expecting the Rick group to be totally violent and messed up and expelled from the settlement.  Instead we see that they can sometimes over-react, but still have their humanity intact and actually have a smart level of caution.  This allows for the story within the settlement to continue on, further taking us in a fresh direction.

I am unhappy with the direction the Glenn/Maggie relationship has taken.  I don’t think their original relationship was just about having hot hot sex in the prison like both characters insinuate, and I also don’t like that Maggie is now a big ball of tears while Glenn constantly traipses off.  These were a good couple!  No reason to ruin them, agh!  Plus, how often to do we get a healthy Asian Male/White Female relationship in books?  Approximately never?  Can we please just leave Maggie/Glenn alone?  *sighs*  However, I am happy that Maggie eventually stands up to Rick in protecting Sophia, so I will withhold judgment until the next installment.

What everyone is hoping for, of course, is an excellent zombie scene, and this entry delivers.  We have people crossing on a rope over a zombie hoard, the hoard invading the camp, and an epic fight off the zombies scene.  These all have the excellent artwork we’ve come to expect.

The ending of the book had a great message and left me hungry for more. (haha)  In fact I just may have to subscribe to the comics. *twitch*

Overall, this is a great entry in the series that takes the story on an unexpected twist plus has pages and pages of zombies for fans to drool over.

5 out of 5 stars

Buy It

Previous Books in Series:
The Walking Dead, Book One (review)
The Walking Dead, Book Two (review)
The Walking Dead, Book Three (review)
The Walking Dead, Book Four (review)
The Walking Dead, Book Five (review)
The Walking Dead, Book Six (review)

Book Review: The Walking Dead, Book Six by Robert Kirkman (Series, #6) (Graphic Novel)

February 13, 2012 2 comments

Carl in orange against a pile of zombies.Summary:
The group continues to slowly lose their collective minds, although it is quickly made evident that they haven’t gone as crazy as some groups when they find themselves stalked by living cannibals.  Toss in a preacher who failed to protect his flock and what turned out to be a pack of lies from the scientist, and it’s no wonder the group is suspicious when a couple of men approach and offer them refuge in an idyllic community just outside of DC.  They in their state of PTSD can’t stop seeing danger around every corner and don’t even realize the dangerous ones just might be themselves.

Review:
You know how they say you can always find someone in the world worse off than you?  Well, the first part of book 6 seems to be all about proving that’s true, perhaps in a way to humanize the group prior to how abundantly evident their loss of humanity is in contrast to the DC compound.  That isn’t to say I particularly enjoyed the cannibalism plot-line.  I can see its value, yes, but I also feel like we’d already seen how bad humanity can go in Woodbury, and if people are going to be eating people, that’s what you have zombies for.  So the first half of the book is kind of meh to me.

On the other hand, seeing our group in the DC compound is delicious.  I think one of the pieces of artwork in the appendix at the back explores the contrast eloquently.  Michonne is dressed up talking to a group of women at a party, but she’s hiding a sword behind her back.  The group has become so used to constantly being turned on and at war with the zombies and other survivors that they cannot relax.  Classic PTSD.  It’s fascinating to see how even Carl can recognize that they are no longer like these people who’ve been able to have downtime in the zombie war.  Anybody who understands war and trauma at all would know that these people need special care.  Even just the way they clump up and sleep all together in spite of being offered separate quarters is a symptom of PTSD, and yet the DC group makes Rick a cop.  Um….ok.  A seriously questionable choice there, but then again, the mayor of DC did used to be in politics.  And we all know how smart those types can be.  *eye-roll*

In any case, it’s obvious that this book is setting things up for a show-down between our traumatized group and the DC folks.  I’m enjoying seeing our main guys turn slowly evil, and I’m curious to see how far Kirkman is willing to take it.  That said, the first half of the book with the cannibals seemed kind of unnecessary to me.  I’d rather have seen more zombies.  Overall, it moves the plot forward, but that plot momentum is left mostly to the second half of the book.  Worthy of the series and hopefully book 7 will live up to the build-up.

4 out of 5 stars

Source: Public Library

Buy It

Previous Books in Series:
The Walking Dead, Book One (review)
The Walking Dead, Book Two (review)
The Walking Dead, Book Three (review)
The Walking Dead, Book Four (review)
The Walking Dead, Book Five (review)

Book Review: The Walking Dead, Book Five by Robert Kirkman (Series, #5) (Graphic Novel)

January 23, 2012 2 comments

Zombies surrounding a purple person.Summary:
After the slaughter at the prison, Carl and Rick are alone in the open, keeping a constant vigil against the walking dead.  They are not alone for long, though, quickly finding Michonne and the other survivors.  Soon yet another group of strangers stumbles upon them.  These ones, though, claim that one among them is a scientist who knows how the whole plague started, and they’re heading to DC to put a stop to it.

Review:
This entry in the series could easily be called, “The survivors start losing their damn minds.”  Not that you can blame them, what with the constant deaths, being surrounded by zombies, and disturbingly frequent loss of limbs.  (Seriously. If I’m ever in a zombie apocalypse, I’m wearing chain mail. The amount of limbs lost is starting to freak me out).

Basically, almost everyone in the group is starting to show symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, in spite of still being in the middle of trauma.  I applaud Kirkman for being realistic and including the whole going crazy bit in the storyline.  Too often in these sort of post-apocalyptic stories the people all show this unrealistic super-human strength.  Having people talking to their dead relatives, people trying to commit suicide, people pretending like some of the dead never existed, and kids becoming surprisingly cool-headed about killing are all realistic outcomes of a hypothetical scenario.  The character development at this point is basically the kids are turning cold and the adults are losing their shit.

Meanwhile, the plot has the much needed addition, finally, of a scientist.  We are being teased by a possible reason for the zombies, after finally accepting there isn’t one, and it’s awesome.

Speaking of the zombies, this book finally delivers what we haven’t really seen since book one–a zombie herd.  A horde of hundreds and hundreds of flesh-eating zombies. So much gore to look at. And each one is unique in its own way.  This is why zombie graphic novels are *fun*.

In spite of the character development and propelling of the plot forward, this entry does not have the power of the last one.  It’s hard to compete against The Governor and the loss of key characters, of course.  This book felt like the classic setting the stage for the next big event syndrome often found in series.  It’s fun, not mind-blowing, but necessary.

4 out of 5 stars

Source: Public Library

Buy It

Previous Books in Series:
The Walking Dead, Book One (review)
The Walking Dead, Book Two (review)
The Walking Dead, Book Three (review)
The Walking Dead, Book Four (review)

Book Review: The Walking Dead, Book Four by Robert Kirkman (Series, #4) (Graphic Novel)

December 29, 2011 3 comments

Pregnant woman in yellow surrounded by zombies.Summary:
After escaping the horrors of Woodbury with two new additions to the group in tow, Rick, Michonne, and Glenn high-tail it back to the prison where they warn the other survivors and start prepping to defend their turf.  Meanwhile daily life goes on, including a birth, more missing limbs, and a wedding.

Review:
This entry in the series is mind-blowingly awesome.  Kirkman demonstrates that he not only is full of surprises, but also pulls no punches.  Our group of survivors have their world torn completely apart. And it’s delicious.

First, we have the return of The Governor, and not as a zombie as I’m sure I wasn’t the only one suspecting.  He is back missing an arm, an eye, and (I think it’s safe to assume) a dick.  This all just makes him even more ferocious and terrifying than before, although that comes as no surprise considering that he is now the man with no penis.  But yes, the full-page shot of him arriving at the prison in top of a tank? Fucking. Awesome.

There’s also a lot more zombie action this time around, although I do wonder why it is in pretty much every post-apocalyptic zombie books, no one calls them what they are?  The prison folks say roamers, and the Woodbury folks say biters. Um, hello? They are zombies. Be realistic, people. Distancing yourself from your fears won’t help any.  In any case, those of us who are huge fans of zombies are pleasantly greeted with many more and varied drawings of them, as well as attacks on people.  Zombie gnawing on a dude’s leg? Yes, please.

On a more serious note, the theme of this entry is war.  It’s war on a small scale, but it is still war.  This is actually quite cool, because it allows Kirkman to show the dangers of war and truthiness on an easier to understand, up-close-and-personal level.  The Governor is smart.  He manipulates his people (except those closest to him) into believing that those at the prison are the type of evil that he, in fact, is.  They thus go in hell-bent on murdering innocent people, who then have to shoot back to defend themselves.  The most powerful moment of this, of course, is when a woman from Woodbury realizes she has killed a baby and essentially loses her mind from the instantaneous guilt.  It’s a powerful lesson (or reminder) to readers presented in a unique package.  The distancing of the situation from reality by the presence of zombies only allows the clarity of the concept of an unjust war to really sink in.

This is absolutely the best entry in the series so far.  I cannot wait to find out what happens to the demolished survivors next.  Fans of the earlier books should pick this one up asap.

5 out of 5 stars

Source: Public Library

Buy It

Previous Books in Series:
The Walking Dead, Book One (review)
The Walking Dead, Book Two (review)
The Walking Dead, Book Three (review)

Book Review: The Walking Dead, Book Three by Robert Kirkman (Series, #3) (Graphic Novel)

December 27, 2011 4 comments

Zombies surrounding a man in green.Summary:
The rag-tag band of survivors have adjusted to living in the prison.  One day they spot a helicopter go down in flames.  Rick, Michonne, and Glenn head out to check on it and end up finding another group of survivors whose leader is known as The Governor.  Unfortunately for them, not everyone has maintained their humanity amid the walking dead.

Review:
This entry in the series puts the graphic in graphic novel.  We’re talking mutilation, torture, and rape.  Also the usual murders and zombies.  It is not a book for those disturbed by those things or who find them gratuitous.  However, for those of us who love violence all up in our literature, it’s a squee-inducing violence fest.  Although you may not want to read it in public just in case someone glances over your shoulder during the rape and/or torture scenes.

The addition of another group of survivors where everything is not hunky dory and evil has arisen was exactly what this series needed.  It shows the very dark possibilities that the group we’ve been following have thus far managed to avoid.  It puts things like Tyreese and Rick’s fight in the previous book into perspective.  Woodbury and The Governor also demonstrate how key Rick has been to the group’s survival and maintenance of a healthy community.  All it takes is one bad apple wanting the power for a bad culture to spring up.  It’s a good lesson that’s taught here in a subtle way.

I thought long and hard about how I feel about Michonne’s rape.  At first I was angry about it with reactions ranging from, “she’s so strong; it doesn’t make sense” to “oh sure, rape the only black woman *eye-roll*.”  But the more I thought about it I realized I was being unfair.  In a world gone to hell and full of evil rape is going to happen.  Rape happens every day now let alone in a post-apocalyptic world, and Kirkman manages to show it in a graphic novel in a way that is respectful to the victim, which I am sure was not easy to do.  The concept of what is happening is clear, but at the same time, the drawings focus in on the victim’s emotions and reactions.  Similarly, Michonne is the logical choice because she is the most adventurous of the women.  She does not stay at home with the kids while the men run out and do things.  She’s a strong woman, yes, but being strong doesn’t stop bad things from happening to you.  That said, if you are a person who finds rape scene triggering, you should definitely skip this entry in the series and get someone to sum it up for you.

Overall, this is a strong entry that keeps the series fresh and introduces more drama into the post-apocalyptic world.  Fans of the first two books will not be disappointed by this one.  Highly recommended.

4 out of 5 stars

Source: Public Library

Buy It

Previous Books in Series:
The Walking Dead, Book One (review)
The Walking Dead, Book Two (review)

Book Review: The Walking Dead, Book 2 by Robert Kirkman (Series, #2) (Graphic Novel)

December 20, 2011 3 comments

Zombies with one highlighted in blue.Summary:
The rag-tag group of survivors of the zombie apocalypse stumble upon a prison with two circles of fences just in time.  With the warm weather more zombies are active now that they’re no longer frozen.  Of course they also discover locked in the cafeteria three surviving inmates.  Attempts to make the odd mix of original survivors, inmates, and the farmers into one group might be a task too huge to overcome.  Especially when you add in a mysterious woman who arrives with two pet zombies she leads by chains.

Review:
Now that Kirkman has the post-apocalyptic zombie world firmly established, he is more free to move his characters around within it, seeing how different personalities and mores react to an entirely reordered society.  This leads to some interesting storylines, such as the May/December romance, suicide pacts, and the idea of a fresh start for the living inmates.  It does, however, also lead to some….overly dramatic speeches, let’s say.  One in particular reminded me of the infamous “Live together, die alone” speech from Lost, only this one goes, “You kill; you die!”  I had to stop reading for a minute to giggle.  The close-up of the sheriff’s overly dramatic face had me in stitches, and I”m pretty sure that wasn’t the intended reaction, lol.

That said, though, all of the drama and death and zombies is exactly what one is looking for in a zombie graphic novel.  If anything gives a writer an excuse to be overly dramatic, it’s a rag-tag bunch of survivors of the zombie apocalypse.  Death and chaos are what we’re looking for here, while also addressing survival issues like farming and people having nervous break-downs.  There’s also a creative zombie lore twist that I won’t spoil for you, but that is highly enjoyable.

Overall, Kirkman finds more stable footing in this second entry in the series.  It’s chaotic, high-speed disasters, violence, and sex.  If that’s what you look for in your graphic novels, I highly recommend this one.

4 out of 5 stars

Source: Public Library

Buy It

Previous Books in Series:
The Walking Dead, Book 1 (review)

Book Review: The Walking Dead, Book 1 by Robert Kirkman (Series, #1) (Graphic Novel)

November 21, 2011 7 comments

Black white and red silhouettes.Summary:
When cop Rick wakes up from a coma brought on by a gun shot wound, he discovers a post-apocalyptic mess and zombies everywhere.  He sets off for Atlanta in search of his wife, Lori, and son, Carl, and soon teams up with a rag-tag group of survivors camped just outside of Atlanta.

Review:
I just want to point out that this review is purely focused on the graphic novel, not the tv series.  I haven’t even seen more than 10 minutes of the tv show, so remember this is about the books not the show.  Thanks!  Moving along….

I almost gave up on this within the first few pages, because COME ON.  Can we PLEASE get over the whole oh I had a coma and then woke up to a zombie apocalypse trope, please?  First, it is so highly statistically unlikely that it was laughable the first few times it was used in my beloved dystopian novels, but at this point it just looks lazy.  Come up with some other way to start the apocalypse, ok?  I don’t care if your main character is out of touch with reality for a few days because he’s on a drug-fueled sex streak.  At least it would be different!  Also, a cop, really?  You want me to root for a cop?  And everyone trusts him because he’s a cop?  A cop is the last person I would put in charge if I was a member of a rag-tag bunch of survivors; I’m just saying.

Once we move on beyond the initial set-up though to the group of survivors caravaning their way across America, the story vastly improves.  The people are real.  They’re scared.  They’re angry.  The snap easily.  They hook up with whoever is convenient (and not necessarily young and hot).  They teach the kids to use guns.  It’s everything we know and love about post-apocalypse stories.

The artwork is good.  Scenes are easy to interpret; characters are easy to tell apart.  The zombies are deliciously grotesque, although I did find myself giggling at them saying “guk.”  Guk?  Really?  Ok….

The best part, though, is the people that in your everyday life you are just like, come on, god, bolt of lighting, right here?  They’re the ones who get eaten by zombies!  It is excellent.  So that really annoying chick in camp?  Totally gets her head bit by a zombie.  It’s cathartic and awesome.

The cast is diverse, and no, the black guy is not the first to be eaten (or the red shirt guy for that matter).  It wouldn’t kill Kirkman to be a little less heteronormative, but he’s still got time and more survivors to add.

Overall, this is a good first entry in a zombie apocalypse series.  Kirkman needs to be more careful to stay away from expected tropes in the genre and bring more of the creativity it is apparent he is capable of.  I recommend it to fans of zombies, obviously. ;-)

4 out of 5 stars

Source: Public Library

Buy It

If you found this review helpful, please consider tipping me on ko-fi, checking out my digital items available in my ko-fi shop, buying one of my publications, or using one of my referral/coupon codesThank you for your support!

Book Review: My Life as a White Trash Zombie by Diana Rowland

October 3, 2011 9 comments
Image of a digital book cover. A white woman with a gray tint to her skin has a white mohawk with pink tint on the ends. Blood drips from her mouth. She has a tattoo on her arm.

Summary:
Angel wakes up in the hospital to discover she was found naked and overdosed on drugs on the the side of the road in her small town after a fight with her boyfriend, Randy.  Someone mysteriously drops off medicinal energy drinks along with a note that she must work loyally for at least a month at a job newly acquired for her at the city morgue.  A high school drop-out living with her alcoholic and periodically abusive father, Angel decides that she should seize this opportunity.  It certainly helps that pills and alcohol no longer seem to do anything for her.  As her oddly gloppy energy drinks start to run out, though, Angel finds herself having cravings for something found in the morgue–brains.

Review:
I bought the kindle edition of this book the instant it came out as a birthday present to myself for two reasons.  First, the title is amazing.  Second, look at that cover!  Yeah, the whole thing just screamed my named.  My instincts were right, too.

It’s been a long time since I read a book that hits all the elements I love in literature like this one–urban fantasy style horror, a setting that rings familiar to me, a completely relatable main character, and a fun love interest.  It’s a world that’s simultaneously familiar and special, which is what makes urban fantasy fun.  Angel’s world of trailers, beer cans, and nothing to do reminds me a lot of my childhood growing up in Vermont.  On the other hand, Angel has cravings for brains.  And she somehow manages to keep this a secret in a small town, certainly a monumental task.

Angel’s problems are a combination or fantastical ones (must find brains to survive) and completely real world ones (a history of an abusive mother and a father with alcoholism).  Angel has a lot to overcome even before she gets zombified, but the zombification adds an element of distance that allows tough things to be talked about without that dragging down dullness often found in literary fiction.

Rowland reworks the zombie trope without completely removing the essentials of a zombie.  Angel can function in day to day life as long as she has brains once every two days or so.  If she doesn’t have them though, her senses slowly dull and she gradually turns into the lurching monster simply desiring brains that we all know from the classic zombie movies.  This really works, because it allows Angel to be a part of society, yet still be the monster we’ve all grown to know and love.

That said, I will say that I am getting a bit tired of the monsters surviving by working in a morgue trope.  I wish Rowland had come up with something a bit more creative for how Angel gets her hands on brains than that.  It’s starting to seem like the staff of the morgues in all of urban fantasy consist entirely of monsters and sociopaths.  Thinking more outside the box would have made me love the book instead of really liking it.

Overall, this zombie book gave me thrills, chills, and laughs galore, but it also brought me close to tears.  It’s genre fiction with a heart, and I highly recommend it to anyone willing to see zombies (or white trash) in a whole new light.

If you found this review helpful, please consider tipping me on ko-fi, checking out my digital items available in my ko-fi shop, buying one of my publications, or using one of my referral/coupon codes. Thank you for your support!

4 out of 5 stars

Length: 320 pages – average but on the longer side

Source: Purchased

Buy It (Amazon or Bookshop.org)

Counts For:



Book Review: Lucky Stiff by Tonia Brown

August 29, 2011 2 comments

Voodoo doll and candle.Summary:
Peter’s just a young 18 on his first spring break to New Orleans with his friends when he accidentally takes ecstasy instead of sleeping pills and dies.  His friends, terrified, drag his corpse off to a local voodoo priestess who raises him with her special kind of magic–tantric magic.  Somehow this method of raising Peter combined with the time of year makes Peter into a very special kind of zombie.  One who can feed off of female orgasms instead of human flesh if he so chooses.

Review:
In case it’s not abundantly clear from the summary, this is an erotica novel.  A zombie erotica novel.  Frankly if you’re not grossed out by vampire undead sex, then this book shouldn’t bother you at all.  It’s not like Peter decays (don’t worry, Brown takes care of that part logically).  So it’s less sex with a decaying corpse and more sex with an undead dude.

Brown’s concept is hilarious and well-executed.  Peter is a zombie with a permanent hard-on who can’t come but needs female orgasms to feed off of to keep him from going all cold-blooded killer.  Um possibly the best female-friendly set-up for a paranormal erotica ever?  Since he died a virgin, he starts off with the Madam learning how to pleasure a lady for five years, then he gets booted out to go find his own way and become a pick-up artist.  He’s completely focused on and fascinated with the female orgasm.  You might even call it a fetish. ;-)

It doesn’t matter if I can’t come as long as I can be a part of it when you do. (page 15)

On top of the fun and varied sex scenes though there’s lots of well-conceived plot.  Peter has issues he has to deal with.  He basically has to grow the fuck up enough to be able to handle a monogamous relationship and recognize real love for what it is.  For instance, at first he thinks he’s in love with the Madam, but she tells him:

Sex is just sex. Sometimes it’s really good, true, but it’s nothing in da grand scheme a’ things. We may have fucked, but we never made love.  (page 87)

In other words, he only thinks he loves her because he lost his virginity to her.  He needs to go out and learn what real love is.  That combined with navigating morality and your faith (he becomes a voodoo convert loyal to La Croix) are at the center of the plot.

Brown also drops in various witticisms that exhibit wisdom but are simultaneously hilariously dripping in paranormality:

The trick to being undead, much like being monogamous, is keeping everything fresh. (page 33)

Bits like that kept me laughing out loud whenever I wasn’t caught up in the erotica.

Alas, sometimes the dialogue is a bit stiff (haha, sorry, couldn’t resist).  Ahem, in all seriousness, sometimes the dialogue felt a bit forced and unnatural.  Similarly, I was bothered that, although Peter clearly is bisexual (he makes multiple comments about wanting to try things out with men in addition to women), for some reason male orgasms are too violent or pointed or whatever for him to be able to feed off of them.  Um, I’m sorry, but this isn’t logical.  At the very least it would make that if Peter gave head to a guy it would feed him, yes?  It felt like Brown wanted to be edgy by making Peter almost bi, but refused to really go all the way.  A great example of this is that Peter tries sex with a dude once, but only in the context of a threesome, and it’s the only sex scene not written as erotica.  It’s simply briefly mentioned in past tense.  I really wish Brown had gone all the way and made Peter bi.  It’d be interesting to see that here.  Alternatively, to just make Peter totally straight would’ve been fine too.  This fine walking of the line rubs me the wrong way though.

Overall this is a fun erotica with a unique storyline that manages to make zombies sexy with a heavy dash of voodoo.  I recommend it to those who love zombies and erotica fairly equally.  I’m betting, knowing the people that I know, that this is not as small a portion of the population as some may think.

If you found this review helpful, please consider tipping me on ko-fi, checking out my digital items available in my ko-fi shop, buying one of my publications, or using one of my referral/coupon codes. Thank you for your support

4 out of 5 stars

Length: 248 pages – average but on the shorter side

Source: purchased

Buy It (Amazon. Not available on Bookshop.org.)